Black Shadow whacks another woodchuck

[longislandhunter]

Went pest shooting this afternoon, brought the CF-X .177 for starlings and the Black Shadow .22 for woodchucks.  Shot a few starlings but the birds for the most part were feeding at two large feeders at the end of the farm where there just isn't any cover to set up an ambush site, so I decided to break out the Black Shadow and go on woodchuck patrol.  First 2 stalks resulted in the woodchucks spotting me and running to safety.  Third stalk went a little differently.  Saw a medium sized chuck leave the wood line and run 15 yards to the nearest feeder, where he proceeded to crawl up inside the feeder.  Made my slow approach and got within 10 yards of the feeder before the chuck poked his head out of the feeder.  Put a RWS Super Hollow Point between his ear and his eye.  Chuck stumbled out of the feeder, went about 5 yards and dropped for the count. As I was approaching the dead critter another woodchuck came charging out of the feeder next to the one that the dead one exited.  Caught me by surprise so no shot possible.  

wow thats a nice one....i would skin that,hes real clean and shiny,nice shot,man that supreme looks nice i gotta get one....

very nice.

I'm still playing cat & mouse with my woodchucks...damned things have amazing senses.

I think I will have to learn to pick them off from 40+ yards to have a chance.

It's either that or invest in some face paint and a complete Ghillie suit =D

[raterminator]

I'm just curious: are those creatures edible, or their fur valuable, or they just go to the garbage bin?

some people eat them.

I forget where I read it...somewhere on the web -- he par boils them (because they are tough) and then BBQs them.

 I wouldn't choose to eat them unless I had no other food options, but I haven't tried them either so maybe I am missing out =D

[longislandhunter]

You may be referring to one of my recent hunting posts when you mention some guy eating woodchucks cause I think I mentioned recently that I do eat them.  Yes, they are edible, and believe it or not the young ones are very tasty.The meat can be tough, hence the need to par boil prior to cooking, but throw em on a bar-b-q, baste with your favorite bar-b-q- sauce and you are ready to go.  I don't keep the larger woodchucks that I shoot,they are just to difficult to skin,  but  the smaller ones wind up in my freezer waiting for an appt. with the bar-b-q or perhaps my crock pot and a nice stew recipe.  I know alot of guys will think I'm crazy for eating them, believe me I take enough abuse from my hunting buddies, but it don't bother me none cause the meals are just to good tasting :)

I don't see anything wrong with eating them, it's more what you find appetizing.

I just don't like the *idea* of eating them.

If you slipped me a haunch of BBQ'd woodchuck and told me it was chicken I probably would ask for seconds...until you told me what it was, then I'd run for the garbage can =D